[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: good evening, i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint" coming to you tonight from our current tv studio in los angeles. it was billed as a major address on economic policy. mitt romney would tell a crowd of iowa supporters and the world how he would lead the country forward into a new era of prosperity and growth. romney spoke today and yes romney did dust off the same five-point economic plan he has been touting for months. the only thing remotely fresh that romney offered was more cries for change wrapped in a series of unrelenting attacks on president obama who apparently bears sole responsibility for everything that has gone wrong in washington the fast four years. >> this is a year of a choice. americans want to see changes. four years ago people voted for

a partisan president and washington is in gridlock because of it president obama reminds us that he inherited a terrible economy. it's not what he inherited but with the misguided policies that slowed the recovery and caused millions of americans to endure lengthy poverty. >> eliot: with change in the latest theme for the drive to the white house smith fired back saying, the only ching romney is offering is to take us back to the same failed policies that crashed our economy in the first place. president obama made a similar observation a little more colorfully when he said, kids have have good instincts. they look at the other guy and say well there is a bser, i can tell. president obama is rattled on the defensive. he's running on empty and has nothing left but attacks and

insults. with just 11 days ago before election day both camps feel the pressure. likely voters favored romney over the president by one point in a "abc news" washington post. and five points in in the latest gallup tracking poll. an american research poll showed the president with a two-point edge. we should know next week whether the singer meat loaf at a rally last night shift the balance of weight in that key state. a purple poll gave the president the one-point engine in cool and showed him tied with romney at 47-47 in virginia. the republican-leaning rasmussen gave obama a two-point lead over romney in florida. david axelrod still seems confident of a obama win leaving

romney to place to go. in my view we have got the lead and the ball. the question is how does he change that now. maybe so, but the job numbers that come out the friday before the election still have the potential to change the dynamics in this very tight race. for administer on this speech the every tightens polls i'm joined by christia freeland digital editor at thomson reuters and author of "plutocrats." and by robert scheer editor at truth dig.com and author of "the great american stick up up:show reagan republicans and clinton democrats enriched wall street while mugging main street

street." rapid plus expeditious equals major. >> romney seems to be pivoting so far that he's presenting himself as obama 2008. that's what we heard in the foreign policy debate. and what was striking for me today is how often he referred to positively to the obama of 2008, and how he tried to sort of seize the mantle that obama claimed in 2008. he used the word "change" so many times. that wasn't an accident. he talked talked about how obama promised to be bipartisan. he wasn't. romney would do that. what this really shows me is that romney is trying so hard to be a sheep's in wool's clothing saying don't believe it. i'm going to be the moderate pragmatic guy. >> eliot: when you look at what he says it is the same 'ol stuff. and this is the same litany of policies that led us over the

precipice in 2008. is that a fair and accurate critique? >> sure, romney is surely the greater evil here on every count, the foreign policy. he'll bring the neo-conservatives back. in policies, he's not even interested in the mild dodd-frank. the reason why he's able to get away with it, it seems to me that he he's been polling and not only did he denounce george w. bush but those democrats who went for the radical regulation. he was very clear about that. and he's populous. what romney has recognized there is real pain out there and people want something done. if obama is more of the same, he's in trouble.

>> eliot: look, mitt romney is appeal to go folks right now to folks whose logic is give me something different. the burden is on the president is to say yes but the something different that he's offering is the same george w. bush that was offered in the first place. he does not close the circle. i want to make this point. the adcdos who came out and said you have to raise taxes. does that puncture the balloon of the entirety of the logic of mitt romney. >> it may puncture it if you want to analyze this in logical terms. >> eliot: you're not saying logic is not in politics. >> i don't think it is right now. you may have fired an aide who wrote a speech like that. i think romney is quite wise not to. the banality of what he says is

central. he does not want to spell out what he's going to say. we all point out the budget mass isn't this. that's because he doesn't want it to be there. he wants to talk in glowing generalities and allow everyone to allow mitt romney to be whoever they would like him to be. >> eliot: this is vapid by design. >> oh, yes they change the law and make the crimes legal. this is what obama understood in april of '08. he nailed it. he said these guys changed the rules of the game. allowed them to operate by like bandits, and it was done under george w. bush's watch. there isn't difference between romney and bush. >> that raises the critical question. why doesn't the romney campaign say look at the parallel of george w. bush it seems to be a

winning argument. >> and it's an accurate one. we lost the populous in obama. interest is no spirit there. there is no guts. that's why he lost the first debate. he's not feeling our pain. the pain is very widespread. if you lost your house 50 million americans have lost their homes or they're going to lose it. they have to change neighbors give up schools. their kids think they're losers. they did something wrong. this guy is not addressing this. >> eliot: was he more akin to the plutocats that you write so persuasively about in your book. >> i think by invocation and personality he's a techno contract. he could be member of the plutocats if he wanted to. that's why wall street backed him in 2008. i do think that obama does understand what is happening to the middle class and i think you should not underrate the things he has done. healthcare reform actually very far from ideal but look, it's more than any democratic

president has done. that's a pretty big deal. and i think education reform with the grants are also really important. so he has done stuff but what is interesting to me, and i don't fully understand is, why not campaign on that? >> eliot: robert has made a point. chrystia you're right. in terms of wealth, income and. >> healthcare was a distraction because he followed hillary clinton's advice. he didn't have a single payer. he didn't have any robust public option. he did nothing to control costs nothing. >> but isn't it better than nothing? >> look, if i lived in a swing state i would vote for obama no doubt about it. romney scares me. he wants to give wall street a bank check. he is a greater evil.

>> eliot: you were clear you said he's the lesser of two evils. >> obama. >> eliot: yes. you did not describe him in the affirmative vote. >> you know this better than i do. when you put lawrence sumners in and timothy geithner, you are clear about it. i would have voted for you. that's why i came on this show. seriously, you had the right mentionmessage. i'm not trying to flatter you. and i thought obama in that speech he gave when running against hillary he nailed it. wall street gave him all that money. now wall street has betrayed him they think the best defense and offense and they're going to play him now. >> eliot: i thought wall street was smart enough to understand that he used rhetoric that was edgy but did nothing that would hurt them. but they seem to be soaked in rhetoric that even pinks them, and now we're not with you.

>> they're shameful. >> eliot: before we spend too much time just on that, chr chrystia the jobs numbers is this the last piece of data that would effect arguments. >> you're absolutely right that is going to be a pivotal moment. with a is interesting it looks like the economy is really healing. the g.d.p. number is pretty good. we're starting to-- >> eliot: pretty good on the context of diminished expectation. 2% g.d.p. growth. >> not just in the u.s.-- >> eliot: you said fictitious. >> if you're the country that is forging head. >> we have such grotesque income

inequality. we're betraying the hope of the founders with stakeholders. we've betraying the idea of a middle class society and people know that. they know that in their gut. you know, your book requires a much more vigorous response on the part of politicians. unfortunately romney is deceptive. he pretends to be every man. he acts like he's working at a lunch counter and offering. >> eliot: mitt romney has etch-a-sketched himself in a middle of the wrote position. i'm beginning to think that the use of the etch-a-sketch metaphor was intentional. it will be painful you'll make fun of us, but we'll succeed. he waited until after the

convention, after the first debate to run over to the center. if he had done it three weeks earlier would he have a grip on a state like ohio. >> i think we have short-term memory. look, this whole politics is brought by money. it's deliberately confusing. the ads are deceptive. it's a mockery of democracy. and which sit here like it's a rational exercise. >> eliot: you're getting me depressed. >> the sad thing is there is suffering oh out there and neither of that's guys are addressing it, and i'm afraid it's going to be more of the same. >> eliot: you talked to the plutocrats of whom you write, do you think there is a sense of recovery really there? >> yes, there is. what i'm going to say about that, and i'll echo bob' point i think this is an economic recovery, it is real, and it will be sustained.

but what worries me is not just getting out of the recession and going back to the status quo of 2007, but that economy was fundamentally sick, and no one is talking about that. >> eliot: let me sum it up this way. we solve the crisis and insolvency of the banks. not the decline of the middle class wealth or wages that have been stagnant sips is the 75. we have not dealt with it at all. >> right, and no one is facing that squarely. no one is saying that american style capitalism is broken, let's figure out how to make it work. is anybody talking about that? >> and nobody will right now. chrystia free land, and robert scheer great to have you on the program tonight. chrystia will be appearing

before later this evening with realtime, and oh yes, bill maher will be with us, also. have we moved beyond racial divides? not if you look (vo) brought to you by courtyard. (vo) answer in a moment.

(vo) brought to you by courtyard.

[ ♪ music ♪ ] >> eliot: like any looming giant, the libor scandal seems to move in slow motion. but move it does, which brings us to the number of day--16. that's how many banks have received subpoenas in this growing scandal. along with the seven banks we have known about before today the wall street journal reported nine other banks were served in september and august. these include major financial institutions such as bank of america. bank of tokyo credit swees and the royal babank of canada. but that should not be a surprise. because 20 banks set up libor which helps define interest rates between banks. with just three banks involved it would be difficult to manipulate the rate. banks cry out once again for deregulation and free market fundamentalist maintain the business world can police itself the libor

current tv encourages you to vote on november 6th but just as importantly to take the time to learn about each candidate's stance on the issues that matter to you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. vote smart. our democracy depends on an informed electorate. >> eliot: as much as we would like to pretend that we live in a color blind society, the fact is we don't. and racial demographics will play a key role in deciding this election just as they did in 2008. like 2008 president obama dominant among the minorities with over 90% support from african-americans, and over 70% from the fastest growing

demographic, latinos. the one demographic that the president struggles is whites, especially white men. in a "washington post" poll, mitt romney held a 2-to-1 advantage over the president with white men. it's a delicate issue full of nuance unless you're romney, surrogate and former governor of new hampshire john sunuunuu. >> we have to wonder if that's an endorsement based on issue or if he has a slightly different reason he prefers president obama. when you have someone in your own race you're proud of being president of the united states i applaud cool inpowell for voting for him. >> eliot: did john sununu say that over the line. that is criticized in a way that's bad or simply making an

observation that says, hey racial pride is a legitimate thing so colin powell go ahead and go for it. >> i think he was out of line. having him change his position flip flop just hours after the statement tells you right there that he was out of line and it's offensive to a decorated general of this country. but i think it understand lines a deeper tone in this republican party, and the whole race this year. i think it underlines a tone particularly latinos. you look at a party that has veered away to the right on issues like the dream act around immigration reform. you see a party that's--that mod raid latinos are abandoning in droves. i think it hits a chord that talks bigger about where the republican party is. >> eliot: there is no question the republican party which at one point when george w. bush

spoke said i will lead a national conversation and make sure we can do something in this regard, the republican party understood politically that it needed latino votes long term to win. whether out of politics or being wrong--they have runaway from even the dream act which is a basic decency we don't kick kids out of our country. the republican party doesn't even give up on that. are they giving up on their future when they do this? >> i think that they are. the republican party is going to have to have a come to jesus moment. when 91% of the latino community supports the dream act. when 97% of the latino community opposes laws as seen in arizona as romney sees it as a model law of the land, and the republican party as a whole veers extremely rights on these issues you have to ask yourself when the republican party grasps on at

least 40% of the latino electorate to be a viable party, you see the direction that they're going is a destructed-- destructed--here in los angeles remembering what pete wilson did in 1994 with prop 187, a very extreme anti-immigrant policy that basically guided the republican party in california to irrelevance. i think that you're seeing a decisive moment at the federal level for republicans much like california in 1994. >> eliot: that's a fascinating metaphor. i had not seen anyone draw that parallel but you're right. by driving the latino voters in california they made it squarely a democratic state. now your organization has put out an ad that i don't think has aired yet. it basically says in the context of the voteer i.d. laws here's what you need to do to make sure you can vote to exercise your

bank democratic right to vote. let's take a look at this ad. >> warning, republicans like january brewer, mitt romney and their tea party friends are trying to steal your vote. wherever you live stolen votes will effect you and almost half of the latino voters in the country. we can stop them. before going to vote on election day, plan on time to vote. second plan how to edit there. fourth, plan who you will take with you. [ speaking spanish ] we can't let them steal it. >> eliot: arturo what do you hope to accomplish with this ad? >> we're targeting four states, florida nevada, colorado, and arizona. why arizona arizona has become a state where you're seeing record-level voter registration levels in the latino community. you can see arpio is vulnerable

and you're beginning to see that in a lot of these states colorado nevada and particular particularly arizona for years to come, you see the anti-latino, anti- anti-immigration stance is having an effect. this ad is geared to educate latinos on anti-democratic efforts by republicans g.o.p. tea party afillated groups for ms. informing and basically lying about the election years. in mayor copa county they put out in spanish that the election was on a different day. >> eliot: did they really? >> yes in pennsylvania you see billboards confusing the latino electorate. in florida they're purging the rolls, particularly the

african-american and latinos and it's ms. informing them about the process. >> eliot: it seems to me at the end of the day the voter policies have one political purpose. they have been struck down by courts. they have been watered down and vilified that what they have done is mess it was metastasized in in the republican party and in a way has been good for the good guys. >> i couldn't agree with you more. the latinos have become more energized and fired up. they're not going to be dissuaded from the polls. they're going to fight for their rights and vote in large numbers. we're seeing thousands much people enthused about the election. we're seeing that they're excited about what's going on and they're going to participate. >> eliot: i certainly hope so.

look, everything the candidates say get out and vote even if you're not with me, but deep down saying gee, i hope you are with me. but with these ads it's superb. it's not an partisan effort but saying here is what you need to do to exercise your franchise which is what every citizen should be able to do so. arturo carmona, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you

>> eliot: coming up, unions are under attack in cal. and it will be on the ballot on november 6th. but first donald trump gets tongue-tied. jimmy kimmel gets a wake-up call from the first lady. and david shuster gets a visit from triumph. the insult comic dog. when it doesn't fit anywhere else we put it in the viewfinder.

>> the debates are over. now is not the time to tally points or to keep the score. >> two-one obama. game set match touchdown home run checkmate can we get back to work now! >> the presidential debate in boca raton florida. they call him middle age. >> what if i forget to vote. >> if you forget? >> yeah. >> well, i have a plan for that, jimmy. [ ♪ music ♪ ] [ horn ] >> election day, election day up and at 'em. >> he is calling security because he believes this reporter is a muslim. >> this much we know, folks. the elections could be swung by

one key voter block. >> women! >> yes. how, it's the ladies. who are they going to vote for? well, according to a new report on cnn.com. people vote based on their ovulation cycle. >> i'm offended as a woman. >> just in case mitt romney needs advice on what not to do. >> he has a stance on china which is a country that just ripping our heart out. we just do nothing to protect ourselves. >> this is a beautiful tie. this tie is made in where china? made in china. >> the donald trump factory in beijing, and we'll put a tie factory in jamaica queens. >> i'm for it. >> david shuster. >> thank you so much.

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>> eliot: rolling back labor union rights is all the rage on the right, and the latest ploy is playing out in california where less that two weeks calens will vote on a slew of ballot measures one of which is known as proposition 32. prop 32 would prohibit both unions and corporations from spending money deducted from employee paychecks on political campaigns. sounds fair and balanced, right? wrong. as the courage campaign, a leading progressive grassroots network leading the fight for equality in california, explains in a newly released video prop 32 was designed to deceive. >> for political donations. >> unions on the other hand, every penny the unions pay comes from payroll

di deductions. >> founder of courage for california. thank you for being here and shedding light on what pretends to be neutral but really isn't. explain why this veneer of neutrality is just the opposite. >> thanks for having me and putting a spotlight on this huge california election. you're going to see $300 million spent. it will the most expensive election next to the president. this is designed to take union members out of the business of politics. it simply says you cannot deduct money from paychecks for politics period, full stop. well, when was the last time that you saw, you have a long history with corporate oversight. that you

saw a corporation deduct money from payroll. this is only designed to confuse people and make them to vote the wrong way. the right way to vote is with the unions, which is a no on 32. >> eliot: now that you pointed out all of the union funds virtually all the union funds come from that deduction process. none of the corporate funds do. would the coster context be to require that shareholders individually approve a political construction before the corporation were able to do it. >> exactly, one by one, each time. >> eliot: if a corporation wanted to activity money when david koch wanted to give huge sums of corporate money every shareholder would have to approve it before he did anything. >> that's correct. >> eliot: that's not what this bill requires. >> it doesn't require it at all because it creates a false equivalency. that's what they're all about. we also have $11 million that's come into the state from a secretive organization in arizona almost certainly the

koch brothers, who are charlie munger jr. has written $13 million in checks last night. you have a few who are trying to stop the 2.5 million workers in california from having a voice. >> eliot: this also has the union impact. that says to corporate spending without any of the shareholder approval saying corporations yes, unions, no. >> absolutely. absolutely. and, look, political money is out of control. we all know that. we all see it. asif you live in ohio, you see it even more. in california, what happens here effects the rest of the country. if this should be passed it will be replicated everywhere. unions will no longer be able to

contribute. >> eliot: money washing over politics is an enormous president obama, and it needs to be remedied. this is not an even balanced remedy. how do you handicap the race right now. >> we're ahead. the no-worker votes are ahead. i urge people to go to courage campaign.org , check out the facts and vote no on 32. >> eliot: prop 30, which would be a tax increase designed to forestall an automatic spending cut, most of it although not all mandated to go to education. this is something that is unusual when you see the governor jerry brown say we want to raise taxes north to in order to fund education and other services. >> you're a former governor. you know the difficulty in running a state. in california it's particularly difficult because you need two-thirds of the legislature to raise taxes. you have to go to the people to do it. that's what this is.

the governor is that a lot of us helped push him to be a little more progressive on and he is. this is what it does. it simply races income taxes on all income above $250,000. that's top 2% of the population. >> eliot: how much does it raise? >> up to 3% for seven years. >> eliot: then it-- >> then it goes back. and it raises sales tax by .25 of a which is one penny on a $4 cheeseburger. >> eliot: i think people need to understand that the impact at the top is progressive impact. it's over 250 or the 500, the wealthier are paying more. but sales tax hurt those at the lower end of the spectrum. people spend a greater amount of their portion much their dollars on those items that will be tacted. here this is saying that those

who contribute a little bit more are top. >> that's true. it's .25 of a cent, and it does get that message across. it's just on a cheeseburger, it will be a penny. >> eliot: what it's analogous to what the president is trying to do to bringing back the tax rates of the clinic on it era. >> they're exactly the same level, above 250. >> eliot: one of the issues surrounding prop 30 and you made an appealing case for it. you say we need the money but as you run it by the governor, if you want to pay for the schools, pay for the prisons keep folks locked up, you got to do it. prop 38 is an alternative. what is prop 38, and how does it intersect with prop 30. >> it would raise income taxes on everyone starting on everyone. all the money would go to

schools. it sounds appealing. there are many problems with it, not the least of which it can't pass. it's under 30% of the polls. interestingly we have a very philanthropic molly munger, who has put a lot of they are money into it, and her evil stepbrother. >> eliot: the munger family has their fingers in. >> they have $70 million or more that they've put in. >> eliot: they're the lesser known piece of warren buffet. >> it's been known as the munger games, and it's been disconcerting. there is a point to all this which is search. we talk about how many small dollar doe donations that barack obama has gotten, millions and millions. the small dollar donations are unions. there are few people with

unlimited money who want to take workers out of the equation and don't want their taxes raised. as a governor you know what that's like. it can't work. you have to vote yes on 30. >> eliot: you're saying no o 32, yes on 30, and no on 38 although it's well intentions. >> do what you want on 38. >> eliot: if obama is behind in the polls, why doesn't he look worried? the swing state fire wal

rich, chewy caramel rolled up in smooth milk chocolate. don't forget about that payroll meeting. rolo.get your smooth on. also in minis.

>> eliot: even ceos like jamie dimon are saying it. mitt romney's tax cuts be disastrous i'm be on realtime with bill maher thomas jefferson said that a successful democracy depended on an informed electorate. our country's future depends on you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup.

only on current tv. take the time to learn about the issues. don't just vote, vote smart. ?d >> eliot: have mitt romney and his anti-tax rasputin grove norquist finally met their match? for years norquist has almost single-handedly led our congress down a destructive one-dimensional path of refusal to consider any revenue increases as part of meaningful fiscal policy. he has ham strong every effort to address long term issues. the basic inequities of our tax code the failure to invest sufficiently in the building blocks of our future,

entitlement reform or the deficit. the effort to restore the tax rate at the wealthiest americans who have thrived over the past several years even as others have borne the brunt of the deep recession, that leadership temperature airline includes, and for who knows how long mitt romney who signed the pledge back in 2006. but now from this unlikely quarter, the most senior corner of our business leadership comes this conclusion. from jamie dimon to lloyd blankfein a group of over 80 senior executives at our largest companies have concluded revenue increases are necessary. david cote the ceo of honeywell and republican said to say you can solve this without increases in taxes is ludicrous. their acknowledgment that norquist is dead wrong and romney's to no revenue needed

claim shrouded in his i'll tell you after the election how i will do a this secret. the political potency of the main treatment corporate leadership, many of them romney's own guys, telling the king of ceos and his republican puppet mast that their ideas just won't working shakes the very funddation of the romney-norquist world-view. unfortunately, for us instant gratification types who think this should be enough to sway any voter with eyes to read and ears to hear and brain to think it just isn't. the general public will not care. but in the aftermath when the decisions will actually have to be made the new counter weighghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghgh always outspoken, now unleashed. joy behar. >> on my next show, rocker pat benatar and "mrs. brady" herself florence henderson. it's the behar bunch. >> only on current tv.

>> eliot: national polls are fun to watch but don't matter a whole lot any more. all that matters is the swing states. the states that will pick the next president. joining me now is poll guru david schusser. am i right even though it's fun to see romney is up three or dodown three all that matters is ohio iowa, wisconsin those are the only ones we have to drill down on. >> that's right. to award romney all of his states and left with three or four percentage points with the battleground states. with the battleground states president obama all he needs to do to get to the 270 electoral votes that he needs to win if

he wins nevada, and you have a top republican saying nevada is going with obama. wins wisconsin which has the president up two or three points. then you add iowa or new hampshire which the polls may an slight obama lead but even if romney runs the table and gets every state that currently has it as a dead heat, florida, virginia, iowa, new hampshire, as long as president obama still holds on to ohio, nevada and wisconsin no matter what the national pop lay vote, the president gets 271 and he wins. >> eliot: if i hear you properly what is going on here, even though the national polls are saying this thing is closing up, mitt romney is making this thing an interesting horse race to watch, it isn't good enough in this race, 270 is the magical number. after all the talk of momentum for mitt romney, that number four seems to be constant. with early voting there, is it

going to be possible for mitt romney to get those critical electelectoral votes. >> no president has ever within the presidency without winning ohio and mitt romney doesn't see a path of doing it without the buckeye state. they'll be essentially living in ohio that either romney or ryan will be in the buckeye state until election day. the problem that they have is that where the message nationally might be on all sorts of different things, on ohio, the president has visited ohio more than any other state since he was elected and he has always pounded the issues of auto bailout, and that it is crucial. in addition to the president being able to say hey i helped save the auto makers, and mitt romney wanted to let them go a bankrupt that's a potent message in ohio. sherrod brown has done an incredible job of organizing unions and making sure that hardcore democrats get to the polls regardless of what is going on with president obama.

it's a pretty safe state as safe states go when you're talking about a four or five point difference. the obama campaign is extremely confident that they'll win ohio and a couple of other states that will get them the numbers they need. as far as the national numbers. what about the national numbers don't they matter? i had an opportunity to talk to obama's strategist and adviser he said the way to understand national numbers when you're up in places like california or new york. and mitt romney was up in texas and mississippi and south carolina. what has happened since the first debate the margins have shrunk a little bit. instead of the president being up in california he's up by 10 or 12 points in new york. when you have survey after survey from calls all over the country there is a fairly significant portion of those voters who are getting called in

california or new york where the margins are narrowing a bit and that's what gives mitt romney a slight lead or boost. >> eliot: although it doesn't matter. ohio is a perfect storm for mitt romney. negative perfect storm. his perspective convergence of all the issues that help the president hurt him. the other interesting thing is the argument that is heard every now and again the electoral college does not change the way the president governors. your point the president has visited ohio more than any other state makes it clear when you're in the white house and you need electoral votes in one place that's where you go. that's what you think about. i'm not saying it's a good or bad thing but a reality of how the electoral college effects politics. tighter in iowa, but still a slim margin there? >> iowa has nostalgia for the obama campaign when he defeated hillary clinton there.

of course, he won iowa against john mccain in 2008. polls have always shown president obama up by a couple of points in iowa. that has tightened a little bit but the democrats are feeling confident about iowa, a two- or three-point cushion for the president there. and some of the issues for iowa are different from the rest of the nation. another thing they can point out, they can afford to lose iowa. as long as the president wins nevada and ohio, let iowa go and new hampshire. they're going to continue to hard there but there are a lot more different places where the president can get the 271. >> eliot: it sounds like the president may not be sleeping well, but he's sleeping better than mitt romney if you sum it all up. david shuster, thank you so much. >> you're welcome. >> eliot: i'm heading over to hbo for >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm tonight in